Drug-Free Workplace

President Reagan signed the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 on November 18, 1988. The intent of the bill was to establish the foundation of a drug-free workplace in the areas that the federal government could affect outside the federal government; i.e., the workplaces of federal grantees and contractors. The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 does not mention drug testing at all. However, many companies have made drug testing a requirement. The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 has 7 compliance requirements. (Miller, 1991) Mechanical MD is the name of the company that I do accounting for. Mechanical MD was started at the end of 2006. As of right now, there are no company polices in place because there are no employees, only the owner and myself. However, we would like to put a drug-free workplace policy into place. The first compliance requirement of the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 states the following: to publish a statement notifying the employees that the unlawful manufactured distribution, dispensing, possession, or use of a controlled substance is prohibited in the workplace and specifying what actions will be taken against employees for violations of the prohibition (Miller, 1991). Our first statement of our new drug-free workplace policy states: "Unlawful manufacture, possession use or distribution of illegal drugs while working at Mechanical MD is prohibited. Use of legal prescription drugs in excess or that do not have a prescription will be in violation of this policy in addition to use of alcohol or over the counter drugs in excess to the extent the employee's health or safety are in jeopardy. Employees who violate the policy are subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination." (Sample Drug Free Workplace Policy, 2006). The second compliance requirement of the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 states: establish a program to inform employees of the dangers of drug abuse in the workplace and the availability of drug counseling,

References: Carroll, C. (2000). Drugs in Modern Society. Workplace Countermeasures (p. 333). McGraw-Hill Higher Education. E L infonet.com. (2006). Sample Drug Free Workplace Policy. Retrieved on August 12, 2007, from http://www.elinfonet.com/pickedpol/228.html Miller, N. (1991). Comprehensive Handbook of Drug and Alcohol Addiction. Drug-Free Workplace Compliance Requirements (p. 828). Retrieved on August 12, 2007, from http://books.google.com/books.